This project focuses on the interaction of molecules concerned with genetic information transfer. A primary objective is to determine under what conditions metal ions are essential for information transfer, and under what conditions they impact on the information in such a way as to influence biological aging. Topics, of interest are: (1) the effects of metal ions on the structure of nucleic acids, nucleoproteins and chromatin; (2) the mechanism of involvement of aluminum, in Alzheimer's disease; (3) crosslinking of nucleic acid strands by metal ions; (4) the structure of the active site of RNA polymerase; (5) metal ions and cellular aging.